South East Europe Group

In 1975 Bishop Hanselmann wanted to give an indication that the Leuenberg Church Fellowship was not just remaining a document but was taking shape as a living community of churches. With the signing of the Agreement by Bavaria he called to life a regional group which made possible exchanges between churches over the Iron Curtain. As well as holding important theological discussions, which have been recorded in the publications of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship, the meeting of the regional group on neutral ground in Gallneukirchen in Austria was for many representatives of the churches in the East one of the few possibilities of keeping in contact with their Western brothers and sisters

Though for a long time predominantly bishops and church leaders came to the regional group in Gallneukirchen, now many young theologians, men and women, are delegated to this body, and of course they bring to it the concerns and situations of their churches. At present the focus of work is on a study of changes to worship in the member churches. Alongside this there is still room for topical themes: in this year “Dealing with the past under totalitarian regimes”.

With 28 member churches from Switzerland to Russia and from Poland to Italy and Bulgaria, the South East Europe Regional Group is not only the oldest but also the largest regional group of the CPCE.